American reacts to GERMANYS BEST CHRISTMAS MARKETS 

4:35 The tree is not fake (like: "made of plastic" kind of fake), but is composed of over 1000 smaller spruce trees.

Fun Fact: Most Christmas traditions in the world (decoration, tree, advent calendar, nutcracker etc) , including the US, stem from Germany. Christmas markets of course too- this is also why mostly countries close to Germany have them also, especially regions like Alsace in France that used to be German. You have to understand that Christmas for most Europeans is very different from the US, it is not just about Santa and gifts and bling-bling. It's about modesty and sharing. Some traditions also originated in paganism that was in Europe long before Christianity. Which is also why Christmas is close to winter sun solstice. The Adventszeit, time before Christmas, helps to bear the short and dark days before the solstice. In many US movies children "learn" that Santa visits every child but this Santa Clause persona does not actually exist in Europe. There are many figures that are similar and have stories of their own, but the flying sleigh and reindeers is English (meaning all English speaking countries have this Santa) and the name is derived from Saint Nicolas, who was a bishop and didn't wear a bathrobe and did not have reindeer.

advent calendars are extremely common in germany, basically every child and a lot of adults too get them every year. in october and november almost every store has them on display, make up stores, jewellers, grocery stores, ikea,... they're everywhere. and a lot of people also make personalised ones for their loved ones, growing up my mum always made them herself for my siblings and me. they start on december 1st and end on the 24th which is the day we open presents in germany (usually in the evening)

Sadly its mostly big citys on this list, the best christmas markets ive visited were all in smaller towns, way more authentic and alot nicer. My favorite for example is the medieval christmas market in Siegburg (the one in esslingen is by far not "unique" there are plenty across the country)

Your pronunciation of German words is getting better every episode. The Z is spelled like ts - "What's up?" for example could phonetically be written "Uoz ap"? The pronunciation of "Feuerzangenbowle" would in English likely be written as "Foyer-tsahngen-boh-luh". 😂

If you would like to have that German-Christmas-Market-Mulled-Wine(Glühwein)-Feeling at home, I would be happy to give you my personal recipe. First put two bottles of red wine, I'm using a medium-priced dry Merlot, in a pot. Add 2 large or 3 small cinnamon sticks, 2-3 star anise, 10-12 dried cloves, 1 vanilla pod, depending on your taste, 6-8 heaped tablespoons of brown sugar, a sliced orange, and if desired, the juice of one orange. You can also add half a liter of water, but I don't do that. Now heat slowly until just before the boiling point - be careful not to let it boil - and then let it simmer over low heat for about an hour. Depending on your taste, add almond slivers, raisins, rum or amaretto to a mug, then top with the hot mulled wine and enjoy. Have a nice Advent season (Adventszeit). 🎄

It's even nicer when live. Come and visit Germany. My personal favorite is still Nuremberg (Nürnberg). I went to university there.

tbh personally i find the bigger and more famous the Christmas market, the more mid the experience. It's more expensive, less cozy and you have to really be aware of pickpockets. go for the smaller ones. they're usually a bit cheaper, more intimate and the shops too are a lot more local based.

You can cook your own Glühwein, if it is not available in the USA. You need: 1 Bottle Red Wine 4 Oranges some Cloves 2 Cinnamon Sticks 1 Star Anise 50 gram Brown Suggar (thats 0,110231 pounds) Cut two Oranges into Slices, press the other ones into Juice. Put everything in a Pot and cook it. Pour some Rum into the cup, before serving. And the most Beautiful Christmas Market i ever saw, was in Baden Baden.

A bit disappointing that she did not mention any christmas markets up north like in Lübeck

In Germany Krampus doesn't fight "Saintaclaus", he's his helper

Your pronunciation of 'wander' is great! XDD for more German pronunciation tips (especially regarding the 'Feuerzangenbowle'): 'eu' is usually pronounced like 'oi' or 'oy' while the German z is pronounced 'ts'. Also, our 'er' in the middle of words is often not pronounced so exactly, often making it sound like a long 'a' sound. So you could pronounce the word as 'foy-aah-tsang-en-bowl-eh'. (Yes, we tend to speak the last e in 'Bowle' XD) Hope you continue to have fun learning about German and Germany! 😊

The word "Printen" is actually related to English "to print". It originates from Dutch "prent" and refers to the original process of "pressing" the cookies out of the dough by using hollow forms representing sculptures of Saints. Such hollow forms (called "Model") carved from wood, however showing other motives, are still used for Swabian "Springerle" (another kind of Christmas cookies), too. The game in 3:52 is (fun) curling (in German: Eisstockschießen, ice stick shooting). 6:24 The candy stick is used to sweeten tea and other hot beverages - by stirring it the sweetness will be equally distributed. But it can be a long wait until it is fully dissolved - so you either use it also with a refill or use it as lollipop after you finished your tea. 7:55 The nutcracker soldiers (like many other Christmas decorations e.g. the rotating Christmas pyramids) came originally from the ore mountains (Erzgebirge), the mountain region between Saxony and the Czech Republic. The ore miner and home weaver families produced those mainly in the winter months, partly to use them themselves, but also to improve the family income. With time some of them became professional toy and decoration makers. 12:20 Newer cobblestone streets were mostly laid down by workers from East Europe. Nowadays also some refugees from e.g. Afghanistan do those jobs. By the way: In the old GDR (= East Germany) even some main roads were paved with cobblestones because asphalt was not only more expensive for them, but also (partly due to poor quality) not as durable. 12:35 End of November until mid December are rainy days in Middle Europe, and since Christmas markets start always earlier in the year, they become also rainier. Most regions will only see snow after Christmas, if any. 15:18 Looks like some kind of currywurst in a kind of wrap. Not what I would choose. 17:04 Feuerzangenbowle - fire tongs punch (and you could pronounce "Feuerzange" much like "fire tongs", it sounds relatively similar). Made famous by a comedy movie from the 1940s, it is based on mulled and spiced wine, covered by a tong holding a rum-soaked sugarloaf, which is then set on fire. It is ready to drink if all the sugar is molten and dropped into the punch. 18:25 Yeah, in most cases the mugs contain "Glühwein" (lit. glow(ed) wine), also known as mulled wine, mostly hot red wine spiced with cloves, cinnamon, orange peels and other ingredients. There are however also alcohol-free alternatives called e.g. children's punch as well as sometimes apple wine or honey wine (Met = mead) based varieties. 19:18 Dresden is the metropolis of the Ore Mountains (even if it is not located within that mountain region), and so you'll find here all the Ore Mountains gadgets, often enlarged to real life for show. The original Christmas pyramids are driven by the hot air from the candles at the bottom level moving the horizontally positioned windmill blades at the top, while the levels between show different scenes from the Bible and/or the miner's life. Another typical decoration is the Schwibbogen, a candle arch showing (in most cases) miners under the arch (which symbolizes the mine's entry, the whole thing representing the wish for a healthy homecoming). The Dresden Striezelmarkt started as Frederick II, Elector of Saxony, Margrave of Meißen and Landgrave of Thuringia gave in 1434 the city of Dresden the allowance to hold an extraordinary meat market during the day before Christmas (at that time there was still a lent between November 11 and Christmas, therefore meat was forbidden except at Sundays). The market got his name "Striezelmarkt" from the Dresdner Stollen or Striezel, a heavy cake formed like a bread, containing dried fruits, which was also sold there. The second oldest Christmas market would be the Christkindlesmarkt in Nuremberg, which evolved during the first half of the 17th century. Nuremberg has a long tradition as trading and toy producing city.

2:00 Spätzle with Remoulade = kind of german pasta with a kind of mayonayse (Mayo with herbes) 4:57 Nudeln mit Kräutersahnesoße = Pasta with herb cream sauce 4:59 Schaumküsse = a kandy which consist waffle soft milk cream covered by chocolade (in this case white chokolade with almonds sprinkels) 6:20 Kristalzucker im Tee = Crystal sugar in tea (proberly with Rum) 10:20 Elfentau = Dew of elbs (dew made by elbs not made of elbs :) 10:26 Blaue Manaflaschen = blue Liquid may with alcohol ... nobody knows how it tastes.. may like blueberrys 13:35 Kartoffelpuffer = a "fried creep" made of potatos, sugar and onions (and a bit salt) 14:48 Bier und Schnapps = Beer with a shot (Don´t mix the beer, belive in us germans, we tryed that all, if it would be good, we would have told you already) 15:12 Currywurst = Sausage with Special keatchp mix (65% Ketcup; 34% Mustard and 1% Curry) 16:37 Pfrisich auf Vanillesoße mit Erdbermarmeladenfüllung = Peach on vanilla sauce with strawberry jam filling 16:45 Pulled beef burger = it is what it is 19:57 Fondue = Soup made of Melted cheese with Bread (lecker) :) ... i would eat all of it ...

Why are the houses so narrow? In the Middle Ages, people had to pay property taxes for their house based on the ground square. Upper didn't matter. That's why they built a tiny ground floor and upper floors much larger.

Twenty years ago, Christmas markets were covered in snow. There was something magical about standing at a hot mulled wine stall, drinking "Glühwein" or "Feuerzangenbowle" or hot cocoa or hot apple cider and eating a roast apple or roast sweet chestnuts or a skewer of meat with spicy sauce or the traditional fried potato patties with apple purée, or the winter season specialty in northern Germany called "Braunkohl/Grünkohl mit Bregenwurst" (cooked curly cale with onions and a special type of salty juicy sausage cooked in the same pot as the cale) while watching the big snowflakes float down. These days it's usually rain due to global climate change, sadly. Very rarely there is snow around Christmas anymore.

Dresden's christmas market is so beautiful and incredibly nostalgic for me (my grandparents live in Dresden so i spent my childhood Christmases there) would have been disappointed if they hadn't picked it as number one.

Greetings from Dortmund. The Christmas tree is partly real. It consists of over 1,000 real spruce trees that are attached to scaffolding in the shape of a Christmas tree. The height is approx. 45 meters and the weight is approx. 40 tons. This weight was also the biggest problem during construction (which took about 4 weeks) because there is an underground car park under the tree. The tree has his own fire extinguishing system inside the framework.

For me as a German, it's so interesting watching you react on those kind of videos ☺ And it's kinda funny how amazed you are by the stoll decorations. I always notice and appreciate them, but they're also kindo common and normal for me 🙈 You're totally right, we should appreciate all the beauty and all the (variety of) christmas markets we have 😍 The tree isn't fake. It like 1000 trees put together and the lights are like a tent. They help creating the look of this kinda perfect shaped tree.

Since you liked the little mechanical santa running on a rope over the Munich Christmas Market: In Bochum there is a giant sled with a guy dressed up as Santa that glides on a rope above the christmas market.

The first mention of a nutcracker goes back to Aristotle. The figurative form in the Christmas style comes, how could it be otherwise, from the Erzgebirge in Germany. 🙄😅

The huge Christmas tree in dortmund is a "real" Tree. Just that it's made up from 100+ trees :)

To answer the question, if it's always raining on christmas markets: yes. 😉 that is an important part of the experience.

I'm from Dresden and our "Striezelmarkt", which is Germanys oldest Christmas Market (since 1434), has opened on November 29th. It is named after the Striezel or Stollen, which is a fruit bread of nuts, and dried or candied fruits, coated in powdered sugar. P.S. Aachener Printen are a kind of gingerbread. Also Nuremberg and Pulsnitz are famous for its gingerbread. The food at one of the markets in Berlin was simply currywurst

Can you please react to a video about Christmas in the German Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains) Its called the Christmas region of Germany

7:49 Nutcracker tools already existed in ancient times. But these decorative nutcrackers originally came from Berchtesgaden (southern Bavaria) in ~1650 and from Sonneberg (Thuringia) since 1735. Today the Ore Mountains (German: Erzgebirge) around the town of Seiffen in Saxony is also known for this

If your list consists mostly of big cities, you havn't even scratched the surface. You could do a top 100 and still you would have to sort out so many beautiful places. I can go on a christmas market in a real castle just ten minutes from here and the special thing about this is that this isn't even a special situation for germany despite of being soooo beautifully special and I love it so much! 🎄❤🥲

germans did invent the nutcracker as well as the advent calender, you were correct in that assumptions :)

Often the small town or even village markets around bigger cities or sometimes specific city quarter markets are equally or more adorable. Stalls run by the parents of kindergardeners or elementary school kids with food and mulled wine, Freiwillige Feuerwehr, the local sports clubs and some people with hobbys like train enthusiasts with small model trains the kids can ride along or some other stuff, some Santa/Nikolaus gifting chocolate to kids (usually donated by local businesses), I love all of this 😄

I literally got a christmas market just 5 walking minutes away. can't wait for this to be finally open.

Krampus does not belong at a German Christmas market. Krampus is a figure from _Austrian_ folklore, and "Krampus runs" are performed in Austria in the Alp mountain region and I guess in the Southern regions like Bavaria and Swabia, but not in the rest of Germany.

If you think it's a hard job to put down all those cobblestones, there is also "Bernburger Pflaster", which is used for sidewalks and ways in parks. The characteristic is the variety and intensity of the color of the grey stones (yes, I know that sounds strange) and it's size - it's 6x6x6cm (about 2,5 inch in Freedom Units).

About mechanical things: christmas pyramids They are awaylable small enough to put them on a table. You would light the candles on it and the heat from the candles would turn turn the rotor on top, turning all the figurines in the pyramid. 15:10 Currywurst A cut sausage with a curry-ketchup sauce.

There are also wonderful Christmas markets in northern Germany , such as in Hanover, Hamburg, Lübeck, Bremen, Oldenburg etc. Unfortunately, so little is reported about them.🎅💙

Dortmund also has the Phantastischer Lichter-Weihnachtsmarkt, which combines cozy* christmas market atmosphere with medieval / fantasy markets. Eg, people walk around in costumes, you can buy swords and leather pouches and so on. There is a lot of open fire, good food and even concerts of medieval and gothic rock bands at night. *or it is sometimes cozy but also sometimes cramped, like every christmas market really.

Glühwein isn't just hot wine. It contains wine, but it's usually mixed with some sort of fruit juice like orange juice or apple juice and spices like cinnamon. If it's homemade you'd usually put some fruit slices and big pieces of spices in there, but I guess most christmas markets nowadays sell the pre-mixed, mass produced stuff.

All Christmas markets in Germany, from small villages to big cities, are very beautiful and unique. The potato you saw was a currywurst.

Traditionally the "Advent" = Waiting for Christmas only happens in the 4 weeks leading up to Christmas Eve. So in most cases Christmas markets will only open 4-5 weeks before Christmas. Though they are starting the preparations now.

The curling is called Eisstockschießen, but the real question is what does this street sign mean?

Been to Monschau for the first time recently and it really is gorgeous. Will definitely go there and see the xmas market

That is hot wine with some added spices, we also drink it here in Hungary, and it feels so good to drink on a cold winter day.

Monschau is really an exceptional place, a small village in the Eifel mountains close to the Belgian border. For me, it felt like Disney World, but it is real. You can stay in the youth hostel, which his actually the ancient castle above Monschau

"none in the world does christmas like germany" i swear every single germany video makes this poor austrian feel so ignored...i know we are small but we exist :(

1:57 That is Spätzle! A traditional Swabian dish (south west Germany). It's a noodle type that tastes like heaven. Never seen that version, though :) 9:50 That would more be a vibe that you get at the Octoberfest or Volksfest, where you can play those type of games. The Christmas Market in Esslingen (that's where i live) has all these medieval type games that are not very common at other christmas markets. i love to go check them out on my lunch breaks when they're open but still empty cuz all then tourists visit in the evening xD

We had the first snow this year yesterday ... I almost can feel X-Mas. Hugz & kisses to you Ryan and your family. All the best wishes from Germany! ♥

Feuerzangenbowle includes rum. You soak a sugar cone in rum and let it burn over the heated red wine, so the burned sugar drops into the wine and you have a warm drink, that will bite you, when you drink more than a mug.

Top reaction as always! As a guy from Swabia (region in the south of Germany), I got goosebumps in the szene with the Spätzle and Remoulade, but not in a positive way 😵 Here you would be banished for life 🤣

12:30 When I was a kid it wasn't, still had snow around that time of year :(

The reference to collecting the Glühwein (glowing wine) mugs at 18:18 is because normally when buying a mug of Glühwein you pay an extra 2-3 euros. You get this extra back if you return the mug to the stall or you just keep the mug. Glühwein is drunk hot/warm made from red wine and herbs. Normally it's served straight or with the option of a shot of Whisky/Brandy/Rum (I prefer Rum). A couple of them and you are really in the Christmas sprit.

15:30 Currywurst. You should visit a German event, there they would offer this. Or you buy Bratwurst, ketchup and curry powder (mild is prefered), put the sausages in a frying pan.

Your pronunciation of Feuerzangenbowle is pretty much spot on the same as that of most german native speakers after having 3 mugs of it.

3:50 that game is called "Eisstockschießen", its preeeeetty close to curling. the biggest differences are that Eisstockschießen doesnt use brooms and the curling stones are about 1.5 times the weight of the Eisstöcke

Our christmas market started yesterday evening. My mom works there and brings a lot of food back home xD

Best way to ensure that you dont spill beer when drinking on a boat, is to put the boat on solid ground!!! The location in Munich is called "Alte Utting". A boat sailing on the Ammersee southwest of Munich from 1950 to 2016. Instead of wrecking the boat when it went out of service it was towed to Munich and reused as a bar: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--C0tZJvUBnM.html

10:26 These "potion bottles" are from a very recognisable vendor you often find at German rennaissance faires called Beerenweine Riese. They sell countless flavours of mostly fruit wines, meades and a couple of liquors and liqueurs in, and part of their brand is to sell them not only in standard wine bottles, but also in whimsical or rustic looking shapes. Optionally, they come labeled as various magical potions, or you can submit your own label text if you order online. At some christmas markets, they operate larger stalls where you can buy the wines and meades hot and by the cup. It's quite lovely. There is one christmas market in Dortmund that's set up as a christmas market/renfaire crossover. Unlike other markets, they charge an entry fee, but they feature various performances and shows after dark, like fire shows or medieval-is/fantasy style bards, as well as folk bands and the like.

From my personal experience, when it rains while you´re in a christmas market you can go to the bar and drink glühwein or hot chocolate to get warmer and relax a bit and the rain makes more cozy.

Kuckucksuhren and Nussknacker were made for centuries in the poor forested areas as a means of income for the poor dwellers in the Black Forest and the Harz in the winter months. And the merry-making is British English and rock candy is MADE TO USE in hot drinks. :)) ( Edited for more text)

Krampus is Southern German/Austrian (not sure about Switzerland). I think there are some traditions involving Krampus, I don't know if he is also usually a part of Christmas markets. Edit: I forgot Northern Italy/South Tyrol, I think Krampus might be a thing there, too. Yes, that's what an advent calendar is: a sweet or other small treat each day from first of december until Christmas eve. They are very popular where I live in Germany. I think nutcrackers are indeed from some German region (they may have been more popular in the past, not sure). Tchaikovsky's nutcracker is at least set in Germany/based on a story by the German author E.T.A. Hoffmann.😅 Yes, rain is not uncommon in december, unfortunately. Z is pronounced kind of like 'tz' (Feuer - tz - angenbowle). Christmas markets and what you can buy/eat there differ from region to region, often from town to town. The hot drinks are usually some variation of mulled wine and other alcoholic drinks you can enjoy hot. When visiting a Christmas market, regardless of it being a big one in some city, or a smaller one in some town, maybe try to pick a date and time when it might not be so crowded with people - but absolutely go when it's dark outside (even though I think Christmas markets are also nice by day, they are just way different and in my opinion way more beautiful after sundown). Btw., sometimes there are houses with a lot of colourful decorations and lights, often kind of overdone. We call them "houses with American decor".🙃

Everytime I see you react to landscapes, towns, Weihnachtsmärkte etc I have the feeling you have the good old Fernweh, means you have the longing to be at these places. 😊

German Christmas markets don't need advertising. Everything has a rustic, cozy atmosphere. Here a pretzel, there a mulled wine, a waffle, another mulled wine, roasted almonds and so on. In the end, you'll be surprised at how much money you spent.

Regarding the River in Monschau: there’s actually an annual whitewater canoe race that goes through the town.

We've been to the medieval market in Esslingen quite a few times and it's adorable. And the wooden Ferris wheel is so cute, our children love it, no matter how old they get. Shoutout to the guys running it, you're the best!

"Feuerzangenbowle" is an alcoholic drink and the title of an old film starring Heinz Rühmann, which was shown once a year at universities for many years. A doctor or professor who has had private lessons wants to go back to school. He manages to enrol for the last year at grammar school. There he plays many tricks on the teachers. The film is about an old school day, perhaps at the beginning of the 20th century. The film is very funny! Here is a version with English subtitles. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-084mblLVk34.html

The "rock candy": It's called "Kandis-Zucker". It's just sugar. You put it into a hot drink - usually tea - and it slowly dissolves. Don't wait until it's all gone, though, or your tea will be cold. Just drink multiple cups xD You could lick it like a lollipop, I suppose, but that's not the intention.

13:03 - in the usa, you have zoning for residential and commercial areas which are far apart from each other and you need to use a car all the time. in germany, there are lots of houses with appartments in the upper floors (and yes, we count the upper floors 1,2,3 etc, also OG for Obergeschoß=upperfloor, instead of counting all floors and making the upper floors 2,3,4,etc) and shops on the ground floor, thus having it all easily accessible and walkable for everybody with mostly no need for cars. in the "old times" shopkeepers often owned the house, had the shop at the street level, lived above the shop themselves, and could rent out additional upper floors. the shop itself almost never was more than that tiny shop on ground floor (nowadays in taller houses and for elevators mostly labeled as 0, E or EG for Erdgeschoß=Earth Level)

13:02 These were build 400 to 800 years ago. They are small, people in that age had about half our lifetime and were a lot shorter. I swear some of these feel like there were build for dwarfs.

😄 your face lights up like a childs on christmas eve. the food is the reason i visit christmas markets.

My favourites: Dresden!, Nürnberg, Leipzig, Rostock, Berlin Gendarmenmarkt, Berlin Neptunbrunnen, Berlin Schloss Charlottenburg, Potsdam, Esslingen, Heidelberg, Aachen, Halle, Erfurt

I love to visit medieval Christmas Markets...the smell of burning firewood , food, wine and everything. The street is covered with straw and the artisans there are wearing in-style clothing, handcrafting clothes , tools, bags and toys... it's better for me than any modern kind of Christmas Market.

One that definitely deserves a mention In my opinion is the one Christmas market in the open air museum in Kommern, Its intertwined with the historic buildings and they even open the old bakery

I'm from Esslingen and I'm so happy to see our market on this list^^ fun fact about the hand driven ferris wheel(for kids): my friend is a medival hobbyist and he was there with a friend who was wearing full steel plate armor and they actually allowed him on the ferris wheel... the poor guy spinning it needed a serious break afterwards xD

There are so many markets missing. I'll only mention four of them: 1. Mannheim - the main Christmas market is in front of the art nouveau style Watertower in the middle of an art nouveau park and residential buildings. 2. Seiffen - winter wonderland in the middle of Erzhebirge (Ore Mountains) and the capital of handmade wooden (Christmas and other) decorations. 3. Rothenburg ob der Tauber - complete medieval small town (including the town wall) and Germany's (Bavaria's) poster child for German towns with half-timbered houses and the HQ of Käthe Wohlfarth. 4 Nürnberg (Nuremberg) - medieval city (part original/part reconstructed) and the home of Christlindl (an allegory for baby-Jesus, played by a young girl in a long flowing white dress and very blond hair).

Feuerzangenbowle translates to 'fire tong punch'. It's, i think, a new years eve tradition. I don't know the ingredients, but i know that a massive cone of sugar is put on some kind of holder over a bowl with punch, doused in alcohol and lit on fire. The sugar melts and drips into the bowl. There's an old movie with the same title about some gentleman indulging in this tradition and reminiscing about their childhood turned out the main character had never been to a school but was home schooled. To experience what it's like, he enrolls on a boys school and pretends to be a teen. It's Heinz Rühmann who plays the main. It's kind of legendary.

7:29 wait-… you do Not do That thing with opening a door of your ✨Adventskalender✨ everday in December 🥴

The Krampus Tradition is such a small regional thing. It is NOT generally on everyone mind in Germany and not representative. It's one of those things that get amplified in the perception from outside.

Germany is not the only country with the Christmas market 😊 last year I was in one in Luxembourg, it was gorgeous. Also in my hometown in Gdańsk, Poland there is one every year. And yeah, advent calendars are really popular, from the traditional ones, with the little chocolates to the richer ones - LEGO has a few sets, many stores or brands as well (like make-up brands for example).

waaahhh everytime you say 'Hallo' .... i am laughing here that's so great ! :-) Thanks for the video 🙂

Dropping Jägermeister into a beer is called U-boot here in the rhein-wupper area, but i allways taugh it taste like christmas😂

Yes, according to Wikipedia, "nutcracker dolls" did indeed originate in 17th century Germany. Also, the bike on the wire -- that's not a telephone wire. If you've payed attention to such minuscule details, you should have noticed that there are no wires across alleyways or anything -- except for the stuff that HAS to be above ground, like wires for streetcars, all the wiring is below ground. So that little toy was riding on a wire that was specifically set up for this. Also, there are other types of fondue aside from cheese, but cheese is likely. The cauldron, of course, is theme :-)

Watch Austrias Christmas markets (=Christkindlmarkt) next! Almost every town has their own one with little local differences. I love many of the smaller ones even more than the big ones but of course everyone has their own favorite. Many castles have one, so you probably like those most. There are activities for kids like baking cookies, pony riding, crafting decorations etc. On the 6th the Nikolaus comes, sometimes on a horse. The Krampuss usually doesn’t appear out of nowhere, they have contests and parades. The masks and outfits are hand crafted and that requires lots of skills. Some areas are famous for their Krampus group! Every kid and many adults have an Advent calender, it was invented in Germany as a printed version but based on the tradition to have a countdown to Christmas. They used to wipe away chalk marks or add straw stalks to Christmas cribs. Another tradition of gift giving in certain groups like school classes or work teams is „Wichteln“ which is based on the Scandinavian Julklapp tradition.

I was several times on the Christmus market in Aachen / Aken. One time there was a lot of snow and wind. It felt like walking in the Middle Ages. It had the right mood. 😊. The other one i went was with my German family in Osnabrück. Smaller but nice to.

I'm glad at least Dresden is in the list, but the christmas market of my hometown Leipzig is amazing too! We have a main market that spans over almost the entire city center! There are a lot of different sections too and every sunday there are some more smaller ones around the city.

I was just in the Dortmund Innenstadt a few hours ago and it was amazing as every year and I live only 10 minutes away from it, I really feel lucky to be here and Christmas is the best event of the year in my opinion

I didnt plan going to a christmas market this year because they are often overcrowded an kind of annoying. But...I guess I will walk over one in the next few days. Damn. :D

I love the Christmas Market in Hannover, every year they build a small fir tree forest in the historical part of the town and you can go inside, warm yourself and drink Glühwein, it's really cozy and smells so good!

I life in Esslingen but didn‘t knew it‘s one of the best in ones in germany.

Besides regular Glühwein, a lot of Christmas markets (especially the medieval ones) also have hot Met (mead, wine made from honey) and Drachenblut (dragon's blood, wine made from various red fruit). Usually both are available in a stronger version with a shot of Bärenfang (a liquor made from vodka and honey) added.

hey Bro, I live in Germany, I also grew up here and am German through and through, that's why I watch your videos and often have to laugh at how you think about us. The fact is this tree is real and the candles are not real but they are about the same size as you said

I love Heidelburg Christmas Market, the whole of Heidelburg centre is wonderful.

I lived in Munich my whole life anf I was like 'what? We have a christmasmarket on a boat?!'😂 I do know and regularly visit the other christmas markets she mentioned and there are actually even more in Munich

The wooden signs on the markets are usually written in old writing styles not japanese😂

I'm really curious how the famous Nürnberg Christmas Market didn't become part of the List. This might be one of the most known in Germany but also with a big issue. Yes it is beautiful but at the other hand way to overcrowded and this takes away all the beauty.

My hometown Ulm has a beautiful Christmas market. Right in front of the Ulmer Münster (the highest churchtower in the world 😉)

advent calendars are a huge deal. If you can, I highly recommend to get one and after you get up every day you can search for the number of the day and have a little surprise. It's amazing for kids but as Rolf Zuckowski said "Auch wenn sie dann eines Tages große Leute sind, schau'n sie den Kalender an als wär'n sie noch ein Kind" (even if they are grown people one day, they'll look at the calendar as if they were still kids) *Kleine Kinder, große Kinder by Rolf Zuckowski

I have visit Trier during christmas and it was an amazing experience.

yeahhh... they started to place the stalls for this year, this Week. Have one directly in front of my Window. Means for several Weeks, i will be blasted with christmas music and several scents like grilled snacks, mulled wine and gingerbread.

I was born in Kiel and grew up in Schwerin (living back in Kiel now). The christmas market in Schwerin was always so beautiful. I don't remember much of it, just that it was really beautiful, and that it was the place where I ate my first corncub with "Kräuterbutter" (herb butter). And that my family discovered that I am a slow eater with ice cream 😂 my older sister always devoured hers and everyone was always waiting on me lmaoooo The christmas market in Kiel is also very nice. We have an entire ally dedicated to food stalls from all around the world, offering their countries' delicacies, which is really cool! And the Glühwein can contain different types of alcohols mixed together. I remember that my first ever Glühwein had vodka in it. I'm not much of a drinker, especially wine. But Glühwein is really delicious 💖

Christmas markets in Lüneburg and Wismar are also great~ Also the mugs contain whatever you bought, most options include Glühwein (spiced hot wine, red or white), hot chocolate with or without a shot of alc, and children's punch (spiced hot fruit juice).

The best christmas marked i've ever been to was the one in Guteneck. Its a very small town but this market is so authentic, almost magical. Nürnberg can go home compared to that, its just to crowded. Smaller christmas markets in general are much nicer.

Not sure if saying Merry Christmas early is bad luck, to me it just sounds weird to say it not only in November, but any day before actual Christmas at the 25. of December. Saying it on Christmas eve might be kind of acceptable (but there still will be people going "it's not Christmas yet!").😅 In German Christmas season/the time before Christmas is either called Advent or Adventszeit ("advent time"), or Vorweihnachtszeit ("time before Christmas"). I personally think it's as nice as Christmas itself, maybe even a bit better, because Christmas only lasts a few days and is just over afterwards. While in the weeks before Christmas you can look forward to Christmas while enjoying Christmas things.